Note to Reviewer

February 12, 2009

Note to Reviewer For:

From: KENNETH W. ROBERTSON, Chief

Division of Current Employment Statistics

Subject: Non-Substantive Change for the Consumer Employment Statistics Survey

Original respondent burden hours were calculated based on collecting Gross Monthly Earnings (GME) in addition to counts of employment, hours, and earnings. Following the release of October 2008 GME series on January 9, 2009 BLS discontinued the collection and publication of the GME data. The decision to discontinue the GME series stems from data quality limitations. Throughout the test period for collection and production of the GME series, BLS has experienced low response rates for the GME data item, response error issues, and difficulty developing an estimator that can adequately reflect the underlying volatility that exists in an earnings series that includes bonuses and other irregular payments. For more information please see http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesaepp.htm.

The elimination of GME reduced respondent burden by an average of 1 minute each month for most reporters. The lowering of the overall respondent burden was slightly offset by a small increase in sample size.

Originally submitted values:

Form	Reports	Minutes per Report	Frequency of Response	Annual Responses	Annual Burden Hours
A--Natural Resources and Mining	1,400	11	12	16,800	3,080
B--Construction	11,900	11	12	142,800	26,180
C--Manufacturing	12,600	11	12	151,200	27,720
E--Service Providing Industries	169,600	11	12	2,035,200	373,120
G--Public Administration	43,300	6	12	519,600	51,960
S--Education	9,100	6	12	109,200	10,920
F1, F2, F3 Fax Forms	16,800	11	12	201,600	36,960
Total	264,700			3,177,600	529,940

Corrected values:

Form	Reports	Minutes per Report	Frequency of Response	Annual Responses	Annual Burden Hours
A--Natural Resources and Mining	1,400	10	12	16,800	2,800
B--Construction	11,900	10	12	142,800	23,800
C--Manufacturing	12,600	10	12	151,200	25,200
E--Service Providing Industries	175,600	10	12	2,107,200	351,200
G--Public Administration	44,000	6	12	528,000	52,800
S--Education	9,100	6	12	109,200	10,920
Private Fax form	16,100	10	12	193,200	32,200
Public Administration Fax Form	300	6	12	3,600	360
Education Fax Form	400	6	12	4,800	480
Total	271,400			3,256,800	499,760